When this story was coming out when I was young, I was pretty invested. Much like Hush, it's been a long time since I read it, so I wanted to see how well it holds up. I'm going to take a different approach compared to Hush though. While it was a year long story, it was divided into three 4 issue acts: "Down Among the Dead Men", "Venomous", and "The Last Stand." This post will talk about "Down Among the Dead Men", and I'll return to the other two stores as soon as I can. I'll also be going through the story itself, pointing out details I like or don't. So let's dig into "Spider-Man: Down Among the Dead Men."
Issue one begins with two guys opening up a deli while arguing which is better between VHS and DVD, so that should tell you how dated this story is. The two continue arguing while taking out the trash where they discover a beaten down Spider-Man in the alley, followed by the Green Goblin showing up. He throws pumpkin bombs, and after throwing the two back into the shop for their own safety, the two battle it out, with Spidey hitching a ride on his glider for a good while. Spidey's narration states that the Goblin took people hostage in a church, threatening to kill them if Spider-Man didn't show, which is where their battle started. He also references a "truce" they had made in an earlier story, and that Osborn broke it with this act simply because he was bored. The two eventually crash and start fighting on the street, where Spidey gets the upper hand and starts screaming "Who's your daddy now, Osborn?!" Considering a line that occurs later in the story, Peter saying it to Norman is little cringey. Spidey starts looking around for something heavy, and someone in the crowd suggests the mail box. Spidey does hit the Goblin with the mail box, which the guy who suggested it found pretty brutal. He thinks Spidey could have caused brain damage, but the way it was drawn makes it look like he hit Goblin in the back down below his head. It's also worth mentioning that the guy kind of looks like Kevin Smith (of Clerk and Jay and Silent Bob fame), which is probably an intentional homage because Smith was originally intended to write the book but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts. While Spidey's webbing up Goblin, some idiot start poking at some pumpkin bombs that were scattered on the street, one of which goes off, hurting his leg. The idiot asks Spidey to FLY him to the hospital, prompting Spidey to see if anyone in the crowd can call an ambulance, to which one guy says he's calling the police to arrest Spidey and his "friend", the Goblin. As police are already showing up, the idiot starts mouthing off to Spider-Man about how he'll be thrown in jail, only Spidey's already made his exit. Ah, classic Spider-Man. Stops the bad guy and gets no thanks for it.
Peter heads back to Aunt May's house where before the Goblin's hostage situation, he and his WIFE Mary Jane were helping her pack things up, as they had gotten her apartment near the two of them. I emphasized "wife" there to make it clear that this was before the dark times. Before "One More Day" and the deal with the devil that erased their marriage. Peter's in bad shape after the fight (even throwing up in the sink), and while Aunt May's very concerned, Mary Jane says this is normal. At this point in time, Aunt May had finally discovered Peter was Spider-Man and the two became closer because of it. This was another thing that was undone with "One More Day" and another of the many mistakes that came of that story. Considering how Nick Spencer's current run on Amazing Spider-Man kind of feels like the stories before Civil War to me, I'm somewhat hoping Aunt May once again finds out Peter's identity. There's a nice scene with Peter and May packing up, even finding the engagement ring from when she almost married Doctor Octopus (seriously, Amazing Spider-Man #131; look it up). They talk about that despite losing Ben there, the house had a lot of good memories. Unbeknownst to them though, they're being watched by someone in shadows hanging upside down in a tree across the street.
Later on, Peter is at his job as a high school science teacher (that was something that lasted a good few years before he outed his identity in Civil War) in a scene where his students are talking about how he used to take Spider-Man's pictures and how he's married to a supermodel/actress, while referencing their brief separation. This part honestly felt like exposition for some readers to play catch up on recent events in the Spider-Man books. The principal then comes to Peter's classroom that he has a call from the city council, where we then cut to the cemetery, where the caretaker shows him the shattered tombstone of his Uncle Ben. Peter then receives a call on his cell from the mysterious upside down person (he's seriously hanging upside down while watching TV). The mystery man congratulates Peter, referring to him as Spider-Man, on bringing in Osborn. Peter tries to brush it off by saying he made a mistake, only for the man asking him what else he has to do to take him seriously besides defile his uncle's grave. He then taunts Peter about how bad things can get when someone knows Spider-Man's name and then mimics Aunt May by saying "Care for a wheatcake, sweetie?" Knowing what this could mean, Peter rushes off to Aunt May's apartment, swinging through the city in his civilian clothes. Peter knows the risk but knows there's no time, hoping he 's moving fast enough that no one will recognize him. Peter crashes through the apartment window to find the place in shambles, though I'm willing to believe Peter came in so hard that he did the damage himself.
As far as first issues go, it's not bad. It has a good fight scene, establishes Peter's relationships and the current status quo for new readers, setting up the mystery and makes you feel genuine concern for Aunt May.
Issue two begins with Peter begging Mary Jane to leave New York for her own safety. She reluctantly agrees as Peter assures her it's nothing he can't handle, basically lying to her and himself. He calls Black Cat for her assistance since she already knows his identity, but is down in Florida working a missing persons case, and wouldn't be able to be there until the next night. She suggests narrowing it down to those who know his identity, and Peter's mind jumps directly to Osborn.
It's worth noting that this was the first time in over 40 years that Norman was actually brought in for his crimes as the Green Goblin (which he probably feels stupid for because this happened all because he was bored). So when Spidey sneaks into the prison holding him, Osborn reveals he had a plan in case he was ever finally thrown in jail, that he revealed Peter's identity to someone they both know and to capture his oldest living relative. Of course, Norman also taunts Peter that he could be lying to him, messing with his head in his fragile state.
Spidey then heads to Avengers Mansion hoping they could connect him with Nick Fury, who also knows Peter's identity. Again, it's worth noting that at this point in time, while Spidey had his superhero connections, he was still much of an outsider in the community, preferring to work solo and in the case of this story, keep a close circle with those who already know his identity. He goes to the front door and talks with Jarvis through the intercom, who is skeptical that he's really Spider-Man. It's too bad that Tony Stark couldn't have put in some cameras by the door; you know, so Spidey could shoot a web or stick to a wall to prove who he is. Spidey's then confronted by armored SHIELD guards; at this point in time, Tony Stark was appointed secretary of defense and that entailed extra security. Having to do this the hard way, Spidey fights through the guards into the mansion until he's finally stopped by Quicksilver. Captain America arrives to defuse the situation as Spidey explains his aunt has been kidnapped and looking for Nick Fury to help. Cap tells him that Nick is in a parallel dimension for a week and can't be reached; only in comics would that be a believable excuse. Cap offers the Avengers' help, but Spidey's wary about his identity being revealed to them, even if by accident, pointing out that his secret being out is the reason for his aunt being in danger in the first place. Both Tony and Cap point out how their secret identities are public and how it's not so bad for them. Oh if only all three of them could see into the future and see how Civil War proved Peter to be so right. Spidey leaves frustrated with the Avengers and himself and takes a different approach. He pays a visit to crime boss the Owl, hoping his criminal connections could give him a lead, saying that he'll owe Owl if he helps him. As the Owl leaves to see what he can find out, Spidey checks on a bodyguard he took down when he arrived, as he reveals he had an operation recently due to Crohn's disease. I really like this scene because it shows that Peter doesn't want to seriously hurt anyone, and he is able to connect to even criminals on a human level, going so far as to offer to get the guy a glass of water. Owl returns stating that Electro and Vulture were the ones who kidnapped May, as Spidey leaves happy with the information.
We cut to Electro/Max Dillon and Vulture/Adrian Toomes in their civilian clothes talking about how they're leaving town in the morning after scoring twenty million dollars (which Vulture is carrying in a briefcase), but Max drags Adrian to a brothel he goes to for one last night of fun. Adrian is uncomfortable, stating "I find this whole thing very distasteful and exploitive." Considering this is Mark Millar writing and the kinds of scenes he's come up with in his work, I can't help but feel he's being self-referential. No disrespect to the man, but sometimes his writing goes to very extreme places. Max then meets up with his regular girl, who is a shape-shifting mutant, asking her if she missed "daddy". (See what I mean about Peter asking Norman who his daddy was being weird, now?) She asks what he's in the mood for, offering Invisible Woman and Scarlet Witch for example. He starts saying that he's wanting something a little unconventional. But before we can find out what he wants, they open the door to find Spider-Man waiting, crouching in a web he made that covers the whole room. All I'm thinking is he's lucky he got the right room; it could have been awkward if it wasn't Electro or Vulture walking in.
Issue three begins with Electro suiting up and he and Spider-Man beginning their fight. Spidey leaps out at him into the hallway for Vulture to see, who apparently wasn't uncomfortable enough to pick up a girl, himself. Seeing Spider-Man and still wearing his flight harness, Vulture jumps out the window to escape. Spidey shoots a webline at him, snagging the briefcase, causing the twenty million in cash to spill out in the streets. This infuriates Electro to wear he blows a hole in the side of the building. Electro tells Vulture to go grab get his wings so he can help deal with Spider-Man, who believes the twenty million dollars was what they were paid to kidnap Aunt May and that there's a third party involved.
Electro brags about his new costume, and it's honestly not that different from his usual one. The only big difference I notice is that his lightning bolt star mask thing folds down on his head when he's not using his powers. I know classic looks stick around for a reason, but they do get modernized as time goes by, so why not just keep the lightning bolts around the head? It still looks like the classic, but a lot less silly. This is then followed by Spidey saying "Looks more like Queer Eye for the Straight Guy anyway". One, it's still not that different from the classic Electro look. Two, that's a joke that's aged about as well as the one from the first Sam Raimi movie where Spidey asks Bonesaw if his husband made his outfit.
Electro also reveals he's learned how to act as a conduit to throw metal objects, eventually leading him to throwing multiple cars down on Spidey, exploding on impact. Spidey SOMEHOW escapes this and really starts laying into Electro, with their fight ending up in a building containing gas and propane. Once Electro lights a spark, he realizes too late where they're at when a huge explosion takes out the top of the building. And this is where main character shields are really blown out of proportion, as both of them are scathed but relatively uninjured. Spidey finally asks Electro where May Parker is, confusing Electro until Spidey reveals Owl told him it was him who took her. Electro just laughs and reveals that he and Vulture had stolen the twenty million dollars from Owl. So yeah, Spidey got played, and it's not that unbelievable. Peter's desperate and has been running himself so ragged that even Electro noticed that Spidey wasn't bringing his A-game in their fight. Of course he would have believed anything Owl told him.
As Spidey realizes this, Electro takes advantage by running a charge through a puddle of rain Spidey was standing in, sending him off the building and landing on a police car. The cop in said car says "Jeez, somebody wanna call 911?", despite the fact there are five other police cars around him. He probably means to call an ambulance, but I'm left thinking "Dude, you ARE 911". Spidey is then taken to a hospital, where his mask is removed so the doctors can do their work.
Elsewhere, Mary Jane tries to call Peter only to reach their answering machine. She says she's coming home as she's feeling paranoid being all alone and that she'd be a target wherever she is, so she might as well be with him. She then notices a TV news report with a reporter holding up the tattered Spider-Man mask the doctors threw out. Now I'm not that savvy on hospital protocol, but aren't there special procedures when it comes to disposal? I doubt everything just gets thrown into a dumpster. And even then, how did the reporter get the mask? Did she dumpster dive? Did an employee sneak it out and give it to her?
The news report talks about how Spider-Man and seventeen others are being treated at the hospital after the fight, while Electro himself remains at large. In the hospital, someone I assume is the administrator is chastising the doctor for not following protocol when it comes to superhero admittances and that it makes the hospital a target. Administrator guy is indeed right as the Vulture crashes through the window of Peter's room (how he knew which room was Spider-Man's is anyone's guess) in a snazzy new black and red outfit.
I really like this look. Considering how much of Spidey's rogues gallery wears green, this is a nice update. The black and red color scheme certainly fits when you're named after a bird of prey, and it was popular enough to be used on the Spectacular Spider-Man animated series. I really wish this look stuck, as he eventually went back to his traditional green look.
Issue four begins with Peter, whose face has some bandages on it, hallucinating Aunt May in his hospital room in a scene that really does nothing but to show how zonked out Peter is. Back to reality, Vulture snaps the neck of the nurse in the room as Peter tries to fight back by crashing a water pitcher over Vulture's head. Security bursts in and tries to shoot Vulture, who then grabs Peter as a human shield before taking off out the window with him. Vulture reveals to Peter how he was going to use the ten million dollars of his share to get his grandson leukemia treatment, expositing how learning he had family and spending time with them made him want to be a better person and how he would have done anything to save him. While there is some sympathy to be had, mostly for the grandson, let's not forget the guy killed a nurse just three pages prior.
Wanting to see his face, Vulture removes Peter's bandages, but his face is still pretty banged up. Vulture is astounded to find out Spider-Man's just some nobody. You know, I'm pretty sure Peter Parker being Spider-Man's personal photographer is common knowledge even to his rogues gallery, so I'm just going to chalk up Vulture not recognizing him to how messed up his face is at the moment.
Vulture then drops Peter from the air, letting him fall to his death, only for Black Cat to swing in and save him in the nick of time. Vulture makes a b-line towards Cat, tackling her and causing her to drop Peter, who is able to grab on to a building ledge to save himself. This leads to a pretty entertaining aerial battle between the two, as they fly through a restaurant and eventually crash into Mary Jane's billboard from Spider-Man 2 (done in Dodson's art style of course). Felicia reveals Owl had hired her to find Electro and Vulture for his money. Being pissed at Vulture for making her waste her time in Florida as well as messing with her ex (Spidey), she claws up his face and delivers him to the Owl, who has also captured Electro, ready to punish the two.
The issue and this act end with Mary Jane on a flight back to New York, Felicia returning Peter to his apartment, our mystery man eating and watching the news all while still hanging upside down (must be his favorite hobby), and finally with a hospital orderly coming to the Daily Bugle to give J. Jonah Jameson pictures he took of Spider-Man unmasked and in his hospital bed, to which Jameson smirks and says "I think that's one very familiar face."
So far, the story does have its flaws, with some dated and questionable dialogue. Despite my critiques though, I still found "Down Among the Dead Men" enjoyable. The makings of a good story are there with the characters acting within reason, and Terry Dodson's stylized artwork makes for some entertaining fight scenes, which can get pretty down and dirty. Plus, the possibility of J. Jonah Jameson figuring out Spider-Man's identity is a good cliffhanger. It's not a bad start, but we'll see how things go when we return next month with act two, "Venomous."
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